IACUC Administrators Best Practice Meeting - Chicago, IL

Registration is closed for this event

What is an IACUC Administrators Best Practice Meeting?
The Best Practice Meeting has become an annual tradition (since 2005) for many Administrators. It gives every attendee the opportunity to discuss their own programmatic challenges with their peers. The primary goals of the meeting are to foster networking, the sharing of resources, and peer-to-peer counseling. Meeting attendees are encouraged to participate in open dialogue, and given the opportunity to provide opinions and ask specific questions. The meeting does not focus specifically on policies and standards governing animal care and use activities, but rather proven and practices used to maintain and effective and compliant animal care and use program.

What is the Best Practice Meeting format?

The meetings are facilitated by co-moderators with colleagues from OLAW, the USDA and AAALAC International present to participate in open discussions. Attendance is limited to approximately 50 individuals with a large open circle seating arrangement. This structure has been proven over the years to facilitate attendee conversation and participation.

The meeting is held over a two-day period with each discussion session being approximately an hour. Networking luncheons are held on both days. Each session is initiated by an attendee’s 10-minute presentation. Immediately following the presentation, attendees, regulators, and AAALAC representatives engage in open discussions.

Co-Facilities:

Bill Greer, BS: received his Bachelor’s in Microbiology from Penn State University in 1985. He currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan. His previous roles included Associate Director for Research Compliance at the Pennsylvania State University, and research technician, production manager and Safety Officer at Intervet, State College, PA (Formally Tri Bio Laboratories). In 2005, he organized and held the first IACUC Administrators’ Best Practices Meeting, which establish a venue for administrators to informally meet to discuss programmatic concerns. He continues to facilitate at least three annual Best Practice meetings. In 2007, he initiated the process of establishing the IACUC Administrators Association (IAA); a professional organization of IACUC Administrators. In 2010, he chaired the founding committee for the non-profit education based IAA organization. He now serves as the president and chairman of the IAA board of directors. Since 2007, Bill has served as ad hoc consultant to AAALAC Council where he performs institutional program reviews, assessments, and status determinations. He served as a member of the Council of Certified Professional IACUC Administrators (CCPIA). He continues to serve as an educator for the IACUC Administrative community and has lectured at multiple venues including PRIM&R, AALAS, CIC, C3, and Administrators Best Practice Meetings.

Ron E. Banks, DVM: Receiving his veterinary degree from Auburn University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Banks retired a Colonel from the United States Army Veterinary Corps. After postings as the Director, Center for Comparative Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado; and Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; he currently serves as the Director, Division of Comparative Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Along his professional journey he has contributed as Council Member on AAALAC’s Council on Accreditation; Chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee; Board Member for the IACUC Administrator’s Association; and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Banks is board certified with the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine; the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine; and he is a Charter Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare.

Guest Facilitators

Gary Borkowski, DVM currently serves as AAALAC's Senior Director. He leads and oversees AAALAC's education and outreach program in North America, including digital resources, educational activities and analysis of accreditation trends. He also partners with the Global Director in facilitating many aspects of the accreditation program. Previously, he served as Senior Research Advisor for Lilly Research Laboratories in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his new position He received his veterinary medical degree from Iowa State University, a master's degree in laboratory animal medicine from the Pennsylvania State University, and he is board certified in Laboratory Animal Medicine. He has 30 years of experience in academic and pharmaceutical laboratory animal medicine and science, and has worked at major international research institutions including Vanderbilt University, Pennsylvania State University, Upstate Medical Center, Monsanto, Pharmacia and Pfizer. Dr. Borkowski also worked at the Kennedy Space Center on four Space Shuttle Life Sciences missions for the commercial development of microgravity research. He previously served as the Program Chair for the National AALAS Annual Meeting, and is past-president of both ASLAP (American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners) and ACLAM (American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine).

Cathy Hovancsak, Area Supervisor, APHIS

Dawn Barksdale, VMO, APHIS

Susan Silk, M.S. is the Director of the Division of Policy and Education in the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) where she oversees the development and interpretation of policy regarding the use of laboratory animals in research, testing and training at PHS-Assured institutions and oversees educational programs tailored for animal care & use programs. Ms. Silk previously worked at the National Cancer Institute Office of the Director in many roles, including Educational Program Developer, Special Communication Project Developer, Senior Scientific Writer, and Speechwriter. Prior to joining the NCI OD, she served the NCI Intramural Program as the Senior Animal Policy Advisor and Director of the Office of Mice Advice. Susan directed transgenic mouse core laboratories at both NIH and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has an M.S. degree in Genetics from the University of Maryland, a B.S. degree in Biomedical Illustration from the University of Maryland, and a B.F.A. in Design and Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Susan brings 29 years of experience in biomedical research and scientific communication to OLAW.

Meeting Location

Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

10th Floor Auditorium

355 East Erie Street

Chicago, IL 60611

Meeting Support

The IACUC Administrators’ Association

OLAW

Northwestern University

Lodging

Please note the meeting will be held at Northwestern University (separate from the housing locations). Consequently, we are providing a number of options for you to stay. With each option, we list the distance to the meeting location. In addition and to get the best rates, consider hotels that will give you a reduced rate due to their affiliations with NW (also listed).